


Mastermind Shuichi

by Detective_Holmes



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Mastermind Saihara Shuichi, Reader-Insert, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29863881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Detective_Holmes/pseuds/Detective_Holmes
Summary: The mastermind of Danganronpa V3 is revealed to be... Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective that everybody trusted.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Mastermind Shuichi

"The mastermind of this killing game... is you, Shuichi Saihara!" I declared it loudly, pointing at the man in question. He looked at the finger pointed at him, his eyes narrowing from the sight of it. His near scowl slowly crept into a sadistic grin; he chuckled quietly, and soon it turned into loud laughter that echoed throughout the trial grounds. It was a sick, twisted laughter like that of a child who enjoyed torturing little animals.

"So, I've been found out. It was a mere matter of time... you took roughly-"

"All you care about is how long it took me to find out somebody I thought I could trust is actually the one who made us kill each other?!" I screamed over Shuichi's voice, not caring about the time it took me. No matter how long I took, the outcome was still the same. It was a horrible truth... a truth I was terrified of. I wish I didn't have to face it.

"Shuichi... made us kill each other?" Himiko's voice quivered, and she looked like she could vomit just from the idea of Shuichi being the mastermind. I could've joined her from my own disgust.

"Hahaha, what a twist, huh? The Ultimate Detective is the mastermind... it's such an honor♪! I couldn't have asked for more!" Shuichi's eyes began to swirl with hope and despair, his grin getting wider. Seeing the soft-spoken detective suddenly laughing... grinning... what happened to him? Was the Shuichi I knew just a lie?

"You lead us through all those class trials! Y-you can't be the mastermind!" Tsumugi attempted to defend Shuichi out of her own disbelief, but we could all tell she didn't believe her false comfort. Nobody did, despite the fact we wanted to believe that kind lie so badly. We didn't want to face this truth.

"That was probably just to gain our trust and lower our guard," Maki glared at Shuichi, no longer feeling friendly towards the detective. Considering how she'd bonded with Shuichi and Kaito throughout this awful killing game, I was sure she was feeling more hurt than she was letting on. She just had to, right?

"We can also assume his personality was fake too, considering his recent actions..." K1-B0 added. Shuichi seemed to take a particular interest in K1-B0's remark, and he started to giggle.

"Yep, yep, yep! Allll fake! Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be all quiet? I had to listen to you talk about your precious hope, and I had to talk about it too! Ah, that was poison to my lips!" Shuichi stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes, pretending to be sick or something. His eyes were even replaced with cartoon X's somehow, but after a couple seconds he opened his eyes again, "But that's okay! I know I can spread despair as easily as I spread hope!"

"Puhuhuhu! Isn't it depressing that the detective you relied on and valued so much is actually the mastermind?" Monokuma chimed in, clearly just trying to add to everybody's despair. It worked on me, at least.

"Shuichi... why did you do this? Why did you start this killing game?" I barely found my voice, looking directly into Shuichi's eyes. I could tell that mine were watering, but I didn't care. I just wanted an answer- an honest answer.

"Hmmm, good question! I guess I was bored♪" Shuichi giggled, putting his fingers to his lips almost elegantly as he laughed. He didn't deserve to look elegant.

"Bored?!" Tsumugi exclaimed, her face seeming to turn a little blue from Shuichi's response. Himiko and K1-B0 weren't looking very good either, but Maki still kept her composure even now. Shuichi seemed wildly entertained by everybody's reactions to himself.

"Well, usually when you're bored you do stuff! But don't feel bad, I auditioned just like the rest of you guys did," Shuichi smiled, now having a more casual and laid-back demeanor. It vaguely reminded you of Rantaro.

"Auditioned? Come up with a better lie if you really think we'd believe you," Maki scoffed, almost literally rolling her eyes.

"I do not recall auditioning to participate in this killing game from my memory banks, but that is useless because I already know I wouldn't. I just don't understand why Shuichi would make such an obvious lie," K1-B0 looked at Shuichi as he spoke, clearly unimpressed. The detective wasn't at all deterred from his claim.

"That's because your memories were wiped clean! Pretty neat, huh? ...Oh! I guess you need proof. Monokuma, start the screen!" Shuichi smirked, and for some reason Monokuma immediately knew what Shuichi was talking about.

"Roger that!" Monokuma simply responded, and just a few seconds later the TVs in the trial room came to life with... a video of me? I didn't remember this recording of me being taken, though.

"Number 154, my name is ∆¶~×20&. I'm a huge Danganronpa fan, my favorite is the sixteenth season! Ever since then I've always wanted to be an Ultimate Surgeon like the protagonist... and I could totally have a really cool execution! I'd make a really gruesome murder too!"

The monitor flicked off after a few seconds.

"What the-... wh-what the hell?!" I staggered back from my podium. That was me in the recording, but... "I never said that! I'd never say that, ever!!"

"Oh, but you did say it, (Y/N)! You just don't remember!" Shuichi 'kindly' smiled at me, still amused by my actions. Was this guy really just some twisted sadist?! What was wrong with him?!

"It must be some kind of dark magic! That video can't be real!" Himiko quickly defended me, much to my relief. Of course, duh... it had to be some kind of trick! After all, if the video wasn't me-

"I have audition videos for everybody else, too! Let's watch 'em, just cuz we can! Monokumaaa, start the videos!" Shuichi demanded, to which the evil bear gladly complied. We were forced to watch these 'audition videos' for Tsumugi, Himiko, Maki, and K1-B0, one right after the other. Each of them brought new disbelief and despair among us as we attempted to convince ourselves they were fake, but we knew they weren't. Somehow... those audition videos to participate in this killing game were genuine. We wanted to tell ourselves they were somehow a setup, but we knew they weren't. None of us had to say that for Shuichi to read it on our faces.

"Aww, now that's more like it! I love that despair, haha!" Shuichi cheered almost ecstatically, throwing his arms up like he was purposefully posing as an evil villain. Well, he did a good job at posing.

"I can't believe I ever thought Kaito should help you," Maki sighed, her comment clearly out of place and breaking the silence. I wasn't sure if it made it more or less depressing that she actually sounded kind of hurt instead of dull and emotionless.

"Oh, him? What an annoying obstacle! It was REALLY hard to do anything without him knowing since he always followed me around like some puppy..." Shuichi groaned, a scowl forming on his face as he seemed to be recalling instances of the situation he was describing. He didn't share those memories, though.

"Annoying... obstacle?" Tsumugi stammered, baffled by his words. I was just as shocked at how he spoke of somebody who'd believed in him.

"Well then... what about Kaede?! You promised her you'd get out of here, was that a lie too?!" Himiko shouted, tears starting to fall from her eyes as she allowed herself to show her own emotions.

"Yep! I can't believe you guys actually believed me when I said I'd fulfill Kaede's promise- even that clown Kokichi did! He thought I was trustworthy... oh, but look at how I crushed that♪" Shuichi practically sang, putting emphasis on the word 'crushed' to indicate that the pun about the boy's death was intentional.

"I-I... you're horrible!! How could you do that to people who trusted you?!" I cried out, gripping the edges of my podium as I spoke as the only way to ground myself to reality among all this despair. It felt like everything I'd grown to trust and rely on was just a lie- a horrible, sickening lie.

"Eh? It's not that hard. Just think of all the wonderful despair you'll get when you betray everybody!" Shuichi laughed loudly, hugging himself. His facial expression was one of almost pleasure, and I felt sick just looking at it. I couldn't believe this bastard was enjoying this!

"...Shuichi's logic is incomprehensible..." K1-B0 sort of mumbled to himself. I wasn't even sure if his robotic limitations allowed him to fully grasp the situation- if so, he was lucky.

"I can't believe it actually ended this way... with Shuichi being the mastermind..." Tsumugi barely managed to speak out.

"W-wait! What about Motherkuma!! Shuichi tried to give Motherkuma a command!" Himiko randomly called out. She was really just grasping at straws at this point... but I didn't blame her. Unfortunately, I'd have to be the bearer of bad news.

"He... purposefully gave Motherkuma the wrong command. Motherkuma said it only made a new Monokuma when a certain phrase was spoken by the mastermind, and that phrase was 'give birth.' Shuichi said to 'make' a Monokuma instead of 'give birth,' and I think that's because he knew the phrase. If he said 'give birth' and Motherkuma made a spare... that would look suspicious," I sighed, looking down as I recalled the scene.

~×~×~×~

"Give birth to a Monokuma!" Himiko demanded at Motherkuma, who simply kept staring.

"Just give birth," Maki gave a deadpan glare, but there was still no response.

"Uh... give birth?" I kind of questioned the odd phrasing, unknowingly proving I wasn't the mastermind in the process.

"Give birth to a Monokuma already!" Tsumugi urged Motherkuma.

"Yeah... make a Monokuma," Shuichi shyly 'failed' at getting Motherkuma to create a spare Monokuma.

~×~×~×~

"Yeah, this gig's totally up. Stop trying to defend me and face the cold, hard truth!" Shuichi grinned widely, his eyes set directly on Himiko since she'd started the side tangent.

"Nyehhh!!!" Himiko shifted around uncomfortably under Shuichi's gaze and started to shake like a leaf, "T-Tsumugi!! Help me!!"

"Wh-what am I supposed to do?!" Tsumugi exclaimed, unsure of how to even fulfill Himiko's request. Shuichi just laughed, though he quickly got bored of terrorizing the poor magician and moved on to another topic.

"You're supposed to face the despair! ...And have one last vote. One to decide whether hope or despair wins," Shuichi giggled, seeming to get more excited.

"One last vote?!" I immediately shook my head, "No way! We're done with your killing game!"

"The Exisals will have no problem disposing of you! ...If I find a cheap Monokub to pilot one," Monokuma grumbled the last part.

"Okie-dokie, listen up! Here's how the last vote will go... If you want hope to win, then vote for me and I'll totally be punished! However, you will live here for the rest of your lives or until there are two people left. But if you want despair to win, just vote for (Y/N) and they'll be punished! I'll only let two people leave though, so out of Tsumugi, Maki, Himiko, and K1-B0, two of you will also have to sacrifice yourselves," Shuichi explained, giggling.

"What...? Those options are bullshit!!" I declared loudly.

"How could you ask us to keep killing each other?!" Tsumugi added in just as much shock as me. Both of those options were horrible! Being forced to live here for the rest of my life didn't sound like hope! But killing myself and two of my friends... I couldn't do that either! There was no way I could decide!

"Don't worry, you'll get plenty of time to decide! ...But I'd prefer you do it sooner so I don't get bored," Shuichi moped.

~×~×~×~

You can decide whether or not they choose hope or despair! Without the help of Shuichi to take down the mastermind, they are unable to discover that they are part of the Danganronpa series and thus cannot bring the series to the end that Shuichi does in the game. That's why they are stuck between choosing hope or despair- and why in this universe, the killing games would continue one way or another.


End file.
